Santa Fe, NM, April 15, 2020 - The New Mexico Supreme Court has voted unanimously to reject the Emergency Petition, brought by the NM Secretary of State and county clerks, seeking court authorization to order the upcoming June 2nd primary election be restricted to mail-in ballots only, eliminating entirely both in-person and absentee balloting.

Under the New Mexico Constitution, only the Legislature has the authority to determine the time, place, and manner of voting in New Mexico elections. In their person, the government officials asserted that the legislature was wholly incapable of addressing this problem and that the New Mexico Supreme Court should order the election be conducted by mail-in ballot only, dispensing of all other state laws that protect elections from voter fraud.

The Supreme Court voted to prohibit the Secretary of State and county clerks from sending every registered voter a mail-in ballot for the scheduled June 2 primary. In keeping with existing state code, the Court directed all county clerks to mail absentee ballot applications to all registered voters. Voters will have to complete those ballot applications and send them in to their county clerk’s office in order to receive an absentee ballot in the mail.

“When the citizens of New Mexico reached out to True The Vote, there was no opposition in place to stop the Emergency Petition,” said Catherine Engelbrecht, the founder and president of True The Vote. “Within days, we assembled a legal team and put together a 59-page brief that was used as the core document in court arguments. The outcome was the court decided it didn’t have a role in controlling elections and it should stay within the bounds of the state constitution.”

“This ruling is a victory for all Americans,” says Engelbrecht. “Government cannot be allowed to run roughshod over the Constitutional rights of American citizens.”

“All of us sitting at home watching headlines about the leV trying to fundamentally change the way we conduct elections, get involved. Now is the time to engage in your home state and have your voice heard,” Engelbrecht continued. “Had they won, this had the potential to transform elections nationwide in November, and that’s why we couldn’t let it stand. Now, True The Vote is ramping up efforts for a national battle against the universal vote-by-mail push."

James Bopp, Jr., of The Bopp Law Firm PC, lead counsel for the New Mexican Voters, and General Counsel for True the Vote says: “True the Vote made clear in our amicus brief that if the NM Supreme Court jumped off a cliff and illegally ordered a mail in election that they would be sued in federal court for violating the rights of voters. They pulled back from the edge of the cliff.”

A full copy of the brief can be found here. 

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True the Vote (TTV) is an IRS-designated 501(c)3 voters' rights organization, founded to inspire and equip volunteers for involvement at every stage of our electoral process. TTV empowers organizations and individuals across the nation to actively protect the rights of legitimate voters, regardless of their political party affiliation. For more information, please visit www.truethevote.org.